Roger Federer has played nearly 1526 matches throughout his professional career, so imagine how difficult it is to select just one of them and place it as your favorite.
And yet, for the Swiss, the choice seemed rather simple. In an interview with Vogue Recently, the 20-time Grand Slam winner explained that his victory over Pete Sampras in the round of 16 at Wimbledon 2001 topped all his other matches.
Sampras was Federer’s icon, and this is the only time he had the opportunity to face him, so the symbolism is very strong.
“I don’t know the date itself – it’s not burned into my brain – but that match against Sampras is my favourite match of all time. It all came together: he was my hero at the time, and it was the first and only time I played Sampras. It was the first time I played on Centre Court at Wimbledon, and it ended in five sets. There was so much going on in my head, it was a fairy tale. And I don’t know if it was the first or second time in my career that I cried after winning. When I got down on my knees after my forehand return against Sampras landed and all that pressure was gone, I started crying. I thought: this is surreal, what is happening?”
Published on Tuesday, August 13, 2024 at 5:45 p.m.
